Lentswe, Klerksdorp - Three men appeared in the magistrates court in connection with a fake UIF claim. Simphiwe Dube (22), Fekeza Mathe (36), and Mathews Pitse (48) appeared in the Klerksdorp Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday November 19, facing charges of fraud. The trio were arrested by members of the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation. Two of them are employed by the Department of Labour in Klerksdorp. According to Lt Col Tinyiko Mathebula the claim was submitted in October 2019. The claim of over R53 000 was processed and paid to the claimant. However, investigation revealed that the claimant was never an employee of the company he claimed to have worked for.
“It was further established during the investigation that Pitse, the registration supervisor at the Department of Labour based in Klerksdorp, allegedly sed the centre number of Mmabatho when he processed payment for the claimant, instead of Klerksdorp’s where he is stationed.’’ After receiving the funds, the claimant allegedly transferred R24 500 to Dube and a further R21 500 to Mathe, who was also the registration supervisor at the Department of Labour based in Klerksdorp.
“The suspects were apprehended and charged with fraud. They appeared in court and were granted R2000 bail each. The matter was postponed to January 7.’’
